Disconnected
by Ruthlyn
Summary: What happens when we lose everything we hold onto? Our memories, our friends and family, even our knowledge of who we ourselves are. What is left to hold us together?
1. Chapter 1

In a dark room, the basement of an otherwise unused building, an important meeting was taking place. Three people stood in a circle talking.

"Your request is viable," one of them, a man, said to one of the two young women he was standing with. "We can train you in alchemy, but only if you are willing to dedicate your life to it."

She said nothing, but the questioning look on her face prompted the other woman to speak up. "You see, alchemy is about more than simply creating the healing potions you already know about. It starts there, but eventually we can teach you how to create much stronger healing potions, as well as offensive potions, which are dangerous in untrained hands."

The first young woman nodded slowly as she reached up to smooth her shoulder-length white hair nervously in an attempt to control her excitement. This was wonderful news for her; she felt as though this is what she'd been looking for most of her life.

"However," the man began, drawing out what he was about to say and thoroughly enjoying it. "You are not ready for a job change in any form. You'll need to train more." The room was silent for a moment as they let all of the information they'd given her sink in.

The second woman spoke again. "So what do you say, Missy Kay?"

"Let me make sure I have this right. When I am ready for my job change, you will make me an alchemist." The other woman nodded at her, and Missy smiled. "Then I'll be back."

Suddenly there was a loud crash from the other side of the room, causing all three to jump. They were shocked to see a poring-shaped creature with a deep blue color, which of course is not a normal color for any poring species. It appeared that the poring had gotten into some of the alchemy chemicals and given itself a makeover. The man frowned, the woman giggled, and Missy just sighed.

"Come on, Beanbag," she said, and the blue poring followed her up the basement stairs. As she stepped out into the sunlight, she blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted to the light. She found the whole thing silly, secret meetings in dark basements. These people were creating a new job that would eventually be available to all of the merchants of Rune-Midgard, not devising plans to overthrow an opposing nation.

The city of Al de Baran surrounded Missy now. Her first visit here eight months ago was still a very unpleasant memory, and she was eager to leave. She'd only come in the first place because the old pharmacist in her hometown of Alberta had told her to. She had relayed to him the story of her attempt at making her own potions, and he had sighed at her persistence in the matter. He'd finally given in a little and at least told her of where to go to talk to those who had taught him and instructed him to keep this knowledge secret from all others. And thus she'd ended up here. The alchemist trainers had actually been quite willing to register their profession as an official job, which surprised Missy. She was anxious to get back to training, which was unfortunate, because she wouldn't be able to for at least a few days.

Missy quickly bought a warp from the Kafra, wasting no time in getting away from this city and that horrible clock tower. Now she was in Geffen, and started to make her way south. She took her time getting to her destination, looking for someone along the way. She was disappointed when she reached the blacksmith guild building with no luck, and went inside.

"Good afternoon, miss," a man inside said. She returned the greeting. "There's a young man waiting for you upstairs."

"Thank you," she replied, smiling politely. Upstairs she found a brown-haired man sitting with his back to her. She cleared her throat to announce her presence, and he jumped up out of his seat and turned to face her. "I'm sorry I'm late," Missy said, and sat in a chair opposite his, motioning for him to sit back down.

"It's okay, I'm just so honored to be here," the man gushed as he sat. "I mean, to even be considered for this, I just never would have imagined." It struck Missy that his smile was entirely too fake.

"Right, well, I have a few questions for you." She picked up a clipboard that had been on a table next to her chair and flipped a few pages up. She began to read off questions that were written on the paper, questions about his skills, strengths and weaknesses, what area he might be specializing in, and wrote down his answers as he gave them. When she asked him if he customized his weapons in any way, his eyes lit up and he pulled a dagger out of his cart to show her. She turned it over in her hands and looked at it closely. It was a stiletto, fire property, but there was nothing special about it. It was not extra strong, the handle was very plain, even the man's touch mark was bland. Missy handed the stiletto back to its forger, stood and thanked him for coming, and told him she would let him know. After he was gone, Missy sank back into her chair and rested her head in her hands. _I can't do this_, she thought. _There's no way I can do this._

What Missy was doing, or at least trying to do, was carrying out her dad's request to pick a blacksmith to take over his work upon his death. She had waited a number of months to even get started on this, but her mother had agreed that she should take her time. The first thing she did was to ask the blacksmith guild leaders to help her by coming up with a list of smiths that they thought would be best suited for what she was looking for. The list of questions had been largely supplied by them too, though the question of customization was Missy's own addition. Yes, the purpose here was to give Bramen's weapon designs, _his_ customization to someone who could make use of them, but Missy felt it was important for the person she picked to have some of their own creativity, and not to just leech off of her dad, so to speak. Mr. Bland there was the first she'd spoken to, and he was obviously not what she was looking for.

She heard the door open and looked up. Here came the next one.

Ten minutes later, Missy stormed out of the building. Two interviews in, and she was ready to give up. She felt sick to her stomach, she missed her dad fiercely, and she wanted to walk out of town and kill something. As she approached the fountain that sat in the center of southern Geffen, she saw a familiar face that served to lighten her mood immediately. She sat down next to the brown-haired swordsman.

"I was looking for you earlier. I thought maybe you got lost," she teased him.

"Oh, I did," Naolin replied seriously. "I'm telling you, that library is like a maze!"

"Right," she laughed.

"So, rough day?"

"What do you mean?"

"I saw that look on your face when you were walking over here. I figured some poor fabre was about to die. Plus…" Naolin pointed at Beanbag, who was less blue now, and more of a violet color. "Either you replaced Beanbag with a marin, or there's a story here."

"There is, but it has nothing to do with why I'm angry."

"Something to do with the blacksmiths then?" Naolin inquired.

"You would not believe what those people gave me to work with! One of the ones I talked to today produces the most unoriginal crap you've ever seen, and the other…I wanted to injure that other one. He was arrogant, rude…He just assumed he'd walk out of there with the book!"

"Sounds like a jerk."

"Sounds like you!" Missy immediately regretted her outburst. "I'm sorry, I can't believe I said that."

He shrugged. "I've been called worse." She looked at him, and he was even smiling. She still couldn't believe she'd said that. He assured her, "Don't worry about it, really. Now, were you going to tell me about your meeting in Al de Baran, or did you want me to guess how it went?"

Missy excitedly told him everything, including how the poring got its new color. "This is great!" he exclaimed when she was done. "At least I think so. You're not going to turn me blue when you become an alchemist, are you?"

Missy laughed. "No promises. But let's get to that point first, shall we?" She changed the subject. "So what were you doing at the library?"

"Research. I think I can get what I need to start a guild now."

"Yeah?"

He grew more and more excited as he spoke. To form a guild, he said, one needed an emperium, a mineral only found naturally in one place: a cave commonly known as Orc Dungeon. Neither of them had ever been there, but Missy understood it to be a dangerous place. But Naolin saw it as a challenge, and he loved a challenge. Missy appreciated his desire to start a guild; this wasn't the first time he'd talked about it. And she knew there was not much chance of talking him out of this.

"Alright then," she conceded. "I haven't set anything up officially with the rest of the applicants yet, they're waiting to hear from me. They can wait a few more days. Let me restock my cart though. We might as well be prepared." She stood up to head to the tool dealer.

"No," he stood as well. "You're staying here."

"I don't think—" she started, stopping short when he put his hand on her arm firmly.

"Missy, I realize that what I'm doing might be a little unwise, and for me, that's ok. But I do not want to put you in danger too."

"But you can put yourself in danger?" she protested. "And don't you think it's actually safer to have a cart full of potions along, even if that means bringing me too?"

"I have enough potions for the trip. I won't be in there long; just enough to find the emperium and get right back out. Besides, you need to finish your responsibility here so we can get back to the real training." She didn't say anything, but he could see that she wasn't convinced yet. "It's really better for me to go alone, I can move quicker that way, and I won't have to worry about you."

"When have you ever had to worry about me?" she countered. "You know I can take care of myself."

Naolin's face softened and his hand moved down to touch hers. "I know you can. You're a strong merchant. But…I always worry about you anyway. Because…" he trailed off, but the look in his eyes stopped her protests. The same feelings she was having were echoed in the words he didn't say. Missy had never thought much about how she really felt about this man, but it struck her then how much she had started to care about him. And how much she did not want to lose him now, with how close they'd grown.

"Naolin, please, don't," she tried one last time to reason with him. "At least let me come."

He started backing away, smiling. "I'll be fine, you'll see. We've got the com-discs to keep in touch, and I'll be back before you miss me."

He walked away, and Beanbag hopped after him. Completely alone now, Missy contemplated this unexpected turn of events. He was right though; she had her own work to do, and there was no reason not to get back to it right now. Time to set up as many meetings for the next few days as possible.


	2. Chapter 2

Naolin hadn't even noticed that Beanbag, who was almost completely back to his normal color now, had come with him until he was halfway to where he was going. He thought about taking it back, but was far too anxious to get to the cave and start hunting. He was glad he had spent so much time memorizing the map; from Geffen, it was quite a walk, having to walk around the ocean inlet that surrounded the town. Having gotten a late start as it was, it grew dark before he arrived. He knew that soon he would be in Orc Village, described as a vast field surrounded by dense forest, peppered with a few dilapidated houses. There was speculation as to whether or not the orcs even lived in the buildings, or if they were left over from a human village that may or may not have existed here. What was known for sure, however, was that when an orc died, the others would throw its body down into the nearby cave unceremoniously. And the combination of minerals that were exclusive to this area, including the emperium, brought those orcs back to life as zombies, walking skeletons, and other abnormal creatures. Naolin couldn't wait to get in there.

He encountered a few of the living orcs once he reached the village, and they were easy enough to kill. But soon enough, he found what he was looking for. A domed house like the others in the village, only much larger than the rest. A few steps led up to a large wooden door that was swung wide open, inviting anyone to enter. Two or three people sat outside, enjoying the clear autumn night, but Naolin went straight inside. The structure had been built around one of the cave entrances and served as a shelter for resting fighters. Therefore, there was a handful of people inside, mostly leaning against the walls. The room was lit up by simple lighting fixtures hanging from the ceiling. Directly in front of him, Naolin saw the cave entrance and started toward it without hesitation.

"Hey, what's your hurry?" he heard a voice call to him as he walked by. "Aren't you even going to say hi, introduce yourself, stop and chat?" To his right, a knight stood next to a priestess, who was sitting.

"Well, no," Naolin answered bluntly. "I was pretty much just going to head straight in."

"You can't do that, you just got here," the knight said. Naolin just stared at him, thinking that this guy was a little nuts. "Come on, it's getting late. Who fights this late at night?"

"It's a cave. What's the difference?"

The knight laughed loudly. "Good point. We're about to have supper. Join us."

"Who _are_ you?" Naolin asked.

"We're the official greeters of Orc Village!" The bewildered look on Naolin's face brought another laugh from the knight, as well as a chuckle from the priestess, who was arranging some very tempting sandwiches on a blanket in front of her. Naolin hadn't even thought about food for this trip; Missy had spoiled him. "Okay, so maybe we're _un_official greeters," the knight was saying. "Anyway, I'm Aeldrim, and this is Selunya." The priestess waved. They looked at him expectantly.

"Uh, Naolin," he said, still not sure what to think of these two.

"Well, Naolin, it's good to meet you. I see you brought a friend." He was referring to Beanbag.

"Actually, he brought me," Naolin quipped.

Aeldrim laughed again. "So, now you'll sit and talk with us."

Between the request that wasn't really a request and the appetizing food, Naolin couldn't really say no. While they were eating, Aeldrim told him about why he and Selunya had been here the last four days, which was basically to try and get an earring from one of those orc ladies outside. Naolin quickly found out that Aeldrim really liked to talk, which was quite the contrast to the quiet Selunya. During the hour or so that they sat and talked, Aeldrim included other people around the room in the dialogue, people he'd apparently befriended during his time here. When the conversation finally began to wind down, Naolin found a chance to excuse himself, still wanting to check out the dungeon tonight.

It quickly became evident to him why emperium was so valuable. He knew what it looked like, and knew he would have to break a piece right off of the cave wall, unless he was lucky enough to find one that was large enough already broken and laying on the ground. What he was not prepared for, however, was how crowded it would be in here. And that was not to say that there were a lot of people he would have to contend with. On the contrary; just about everywhere he went he was faced with no less than three of the orc zombies at a time, usually a bat or two, and sometimes, an orc skeleton thrown into the mix. After a few hours, he had not succeeded in even advancing very far into the cave. He was tired enough that he decided to call it a night and try harder tomorrow. When he got back up to the old house, he found only one torch left burning – just enough light for him to find an empty spot on the ground and fall asleep.

The next morning, he no sooner opened his eyes than was back to work. He'd pushed in farther this time, after about three hours, partly due to the fact that there were more people down here than last night. Even still, he barely had time to rest between mobs of undead. He was thoroughly enjoying himself, he always did when he could just mindlessly smash things. He almost forgot what he was here for, and wondered at one point if he had missed some emperium by now. Not that the thought bothered him much.

Around midday, he got his first glimpse of the mineral. He was cutting down a couple of steel chonchons, which he normally didn't take the time to do, even though he knew full well that they were stealing items from him. But when he had a break in action, he swung at one, drawing them both to him. As the first one fell dead, Naolin jumped back just in time to avoid being knocked down by an acolyte running by. The acolyte was limping and being chased by two zombies and at least four bats, though it was hard to see where one ended and the next began in that mess of wings. Ignoring the chonchon that was feebly trying to get through his armor, Naolin rushed at the monsters, knocking a couple of the bats out of the air right away. His fire tsurugi sliced cleanly through the arm of one of the zombies, and it stopped chasing the acolyte and turned to Naolin.

"Hey!" Naolin called after the acolyte, hoping he would stop and bring the second orc back so Naolin could help him. The acolyte kept going without even looking back. Naolin sighed and swatted down the remaining chonchon, thinking that at least he only had one injured orc to deal with this time. But of course, that would not last long. And sure enough, out of the shadows around him, Naolin spotted three more dark figures headed his way. He could tell by their slow stride that they were all zombies, which were at least easier to handle than the skeletons. By the time the new enemies reached him, he had killed the first one and was ready for them. Luckily, these monsters not only walked slow, they attacked slow too, swinging their axes upward in a lazy motion that he could usually anticipate and avoid.

Movement to his right caught his eye, and he turned his head to see that acolyte standing no more than two yards away, scraping at the cave wall with a dagger. Naolin looked back quickly to dodge a few more attacks, then back to the acolyte. He'd apparently found an emperium that Naolin hadn't noticed he was standing so close to. The acolyte then looked behind him, back at Naolin, and ran back the way he had come when Naolin first saw him. When Naolin first saw what the acolyte was looking at, he had to look twice. It was as if in the few seconds that the acolyte was out of his sight, he had run the length of the entire dungeon and provoked everything he could find, and now that was all coming straight at Naolin.

When the mass of monsters reached him, he could see that it wasn't as bad as he'd first thought, but it was still more than he was prepared to deal with. He pushed aside any thoughts of using a fly wing to get out of this mess; he was determined to fight his way out. He cast _Magnum Break_ a few times in succession, which helped him in a number of ways. The spell was not entirely powerful in itself, but it was strong enough to kill off any bats that were in the mess, which cut down his problem a bit. He also knew that undead as a whole were susceptible to fire, which was the property _Magnum Break_ carried, and more importantly, it pushed everything it hit back a few feet, which gave him room to work. He targeted the nearest orc skeleton first, swinging his sword as hard as he could. He was no longer able to avoid even the slowest attacks, and could feel those old, rusty axe heads cutting through his armor. He continued to use what little magic he knew as a swordsman to keep the attacks at bay whenever possible, and steadily cut through the orcs. He downed a few orange potions as he went, though he was not used to needing so many, and they were starting to make him feel nauseous. By the time he was down to one orc, Naolin felt invincible. He could take anything this dungeon threw at him!

Out of breath, yet energized, Naolin was ready to find more to fight, when he heard a voice in his ear. It was Missy.

"I hate to bother you, but I'm going crazy here. Do you have a minute to talk?"

"Absolutely," he replied. "Give me a minute to get out of here."

Naolin made it out of the cave easily, killing a few more zombies along the way, and sidestepping others. Back up top, the house was mostly deserted, so he continued until he was outside completely. His stomach growled, and he once again remembered that he'd brought no food with him. A poporing hopped lazily by, and he knew where he would get his lunch.

"Okay, what's going on?" he asked over the com-disc, as he sat on one of the steps outside, popping a handful of grapes into his mouth ravenously.

Her rant was similar to the one he'd heard yesterday; she'd had quite a few more interviews today, and there was always something horribly wrong with each applicant. Though she made the faults sound huge, they mostly seemed trivial to Naolin, but he knew this meant a lot to her, and she would undoubtedly hold out for the perfect choice. He also knew that she did not expect answers to the numerous questions she speckled throughout, and he was happy to just listen.

"I really don't think I'll find anyone," she said, finally seeming to come to the end of her tirade.

"Of course you will," he assured her. "And don't think for a moment that you should settle with anyone you're not comfortable with, just because you're worried that you'll never find the right person for the job. Just remember that there's no rush."

"No rush except that I'm missing out on everything! Don't think I couldn't tell that you were in the middle of something when I first contacted you."

"Oh, that."

"Yeah, something exciting I assume?" He relayed the story to her, after which she replied, "See? I told you that you should have let me come."

"I was okay, really. I had plenty of potions for the fight."

"Not because of that, conceited. You're having fun without me!"

Naolin chuckled. "I promise, after I get my emperium, no more fun unless you're with me."

"I'll hold you to that."

After that, she went back to her business, and he knew it was time to get back to his own. He dropped a few remaining grapes on the ground for Beanbag, then stood up. Looking up for the first time since sitting down, he saw Aeldrim and Selunya sitting nearby grinning amusedly at him.

"What?" he asked them.

"We were just enjoying watching you talk to yourself," Selunya said.

"Those com-discs are hard to get used to," Aeldrim added. "We've got a set ourselves, but we so rarely use them, we forget what people look like using them." Naolin chuckled as he walked up the steps toward the building. Aeldrim stopped him before he went inside. "Hey, you don't really take that poring down there with you, do you?"

Naolin looked down at Beanbag. "Yeah. I've never really noticed it much, but nothing ever seems to even look twice at it. I'd say it's safer than I am down there." Then he hurried through the doorway before the knight could come up with another topic of conversation.


	3. Chapter 3

Twenty-four hours later, Missy sat upstairs in the blacksmith building, opposite one of the few women smiths who'd been on the list. Her name was Alemara, and so far, Missy was impressed. After going over the questions on her list and receiving satisfactory answers, Missy went off-script.

"How long have you been a blacksmith?"

"About a year and a half," Alemara answered.

"Do you enjoy it?"

Alemara's eyes twinkled as she smiled. "Very much. I've been designing weapon handles since I was a novice. Would you like to see one of my custom pieces?" When Missy nodded, she handed her an axe. Missy didn't pay any attention to what kind it was, or if there was anything special about the head. All she was able to notice was the handle. It was…

"Pink."

Alemara's smile widened. "Isn't it cute? The girls just love my work."

"Uh-huh," was all Missy could say. When Alemara left, Missy made a note on her page stating that the pink was a little odd, but that maybe she could work with her, and that Alemara was a definite possibility. She envisioned an anvil draped in lace and shuddered. Looking up at the clock on the wall, she saw that, thankfully, she had a half an hour before her next smith would be in. She needed to get out of here while she could, get some fresh air. Outside, she circled the outer edge of the city a few times, just walked to be walking, where the already small crowd that this town attracted was even thinner. This business was just so unpleasant. She felt sick to her stomach, she missed her dad fiercely, and she just wanted to be alone for a while. When she came to the western town entrance, she stopped and looked out at the field. She couldn't help but laugh at the novices running in fear from the slow moving fabres, or shaking their fists at yet another loot-stealing poring that inevitably came out of nowhere.

Missy jumped when suddenly a loud _Clang!_ interrupted the silence around her. A large rock had apparently hit the side of her cart and now came to rest a few feet away. She looked around to see where it came from, which she discovered just in time to reach up and catch another rock flying straight at her head. She looked at it closely. It was iron ore. In the same direction it had come from, Missy saw a merchant, leaning over his cart and rummaging through it. As she walked closer to him, she could hear him muttering to himself.

"Excuse me, I think you lost something," she said.

"Keep it," he replied without looking up.

"Thanks, but I don't really need it. Mind if I ask you why you're throwing iron ore out into the street anyway?"

The merchant finally straightened up and turned to look at her. "It's no good," he stated with a shrug.

Standing at his full height, he was a half a foot taller than Missy. Getting a better look at him now, Missy guessed that he was also older than she, by at least five years. Most people would have changed to their second class by then.

"You know," she began, trying not to let her amusement show, "iron ore is, by definition, impure. That is why it must be refined before it can be used."

The merchant blinked a few times, and looked her over. "Yeah, I know. I'm peculiar," he announced, as if it should explain everything.

"I'd have to agree with you so far," Missy replied. The merchant suddenly grinned.

"I'm Jonathan," he said, extending his hand.

* * *

Deep in Orc Dungeon, grunts echoed off the walls as Naolin continued to fight the endless swarm of orcs. Today, he made a huge push further into the dungeon, where he hoped to find what he was looking for. No emperium yet, but he sure was putting together quite the collection of claws and fangs. He was still enjoying the constant battle, but not as much as yesterday. It almost seemed too easy now, it wasn't a challenge anymore. The only real challenge was finding that elusive rock.

For the last two hours, he and Beanbag had mostly stayed in a corner, the farthest spot from the entrance, as near as he could tell. As long as he'd been here, he'd never found an area with such a concentration of monsters. It also seemed to be one of the entrances to the second level of this cave. He had contemplated the fact that perhaps the emperium on this level had been depleted, and he'd need to head down to find any, but not knowing what awaited him down there, he was saving that as a last resort.

Luckily, he didn't have to make that decision. He found an emperium, though not in the way he'd assumed he would. One of the many orc zombies he killed dropped it, which he thought was odd, as none of the books he'd read about this place had indicated that as a possibility. Unfortunately, before he was able to pick it up, a steel chonchon swooped in and swallowed it up. It was times like this that Naolin wished that Beanbag would steal items for him for once. Of course, this time he could not just let the thief get away. Naolin swatted the bug and downed it easily. Nothing. There was a conspicuous absence of a shiny yellow rock. He looked around and saw a few other chonchons hovering around him; he realized the mistake he'd made. He had taken his eyes off the bug in question, and now he'd probably have to kill them all to get his rock back. Just as he used _Provoke_ on the nearest steel chonchon, taunting it to attack him first, and thereby bringing its friends with it, Naolin noticed the shadows around him begin to move. They were shifting, closing in on him.

It would be really difficult to get his emperium back while fighting off another horde of undead at the same time, but he had no choice now. He downed as many of the chonchons as he could before the slow orcs reached him, but still saw no emperium.

The first blow came from behind him, so he didn't see it coming. They were all around him now. Knowing that he was relying too much on his one weak spell, he didn't see much choice. He sheathed his sword and once again lit up the room around him with a ring of fire. Twice, and the remaining chonchons were dead. He saw his emperium now, though didn't dare stoop down to pick it up with a half dozen monsters breathing down his neck, literally. He needed to get to the wall, to make sure none of them were behind him. Those were the attacks he absolutely could not avoid. He ducked down low, narrowly avoided being nailed in the face with an axe, and swung his sword around, slicing the legs of the two orcs that stood between him and the cave wall. With his back to the wall now, he faced the remaining zombies, and saw a few new players. An orc skeleton was joining the fight, as well as a few bats.

Naolin looked to the ground and realized that the emperium was no longer there; of course, another steel chonchon had entered the area too, and had come to claim his prize. This time, he would not take his eyes off of that bug. If he ever wanted to get out of here, he had to kill this mob and fast. He cast _Magnum Break _a few times, ignoring the pain from the numerous attacks he wasn't even trying to avoid now. The fire eventually killed all of the zombies, and left him with the skeleton, which he promptly used _Bash_ on until it fell over in pieces.

Gasping for breath, worn out, and nearly drained of what little energy for spells he had, Naolin stepped over to the steel chonchon and swung his sword at it weakly. It took a little longer to kill it than usual, but soon enough, it fell over with a final buzz. He snatched the emperium up and shoved it in his bag quickly, and hadn't even stood back up before another chonchon charged at him and knocked him off-balance. After a bit of a tumble, he was chuckling a little by the time was able to pick himself back up.

Any hint of amusement disappeared immediately when Naolin looked around. Everything looked different. That stupid, little bug had knocked him down to the next level. And his com-disc – it wasn't on his sleeve anymore. Where was it? Naolin searched around him quickly. There, a few feet away, laying on the ground. Just as he reached it, the same chonchon, which had followed him down, swooped in and grabbed the disc. Before Naolin could react, the chonchon emitted a sudden short, shrill sound. Naolin turned his head, and in the torch light, what he saw made his heart sink. The room was alive with steel chonchons, dozens of them. And every one of them was coming to answer the cry of the first one. He heard the chattering of an orc skeleton somewhere in the darkness around him, and could only hope it would wait its turn.

Unfortunately, he could do very little to the swarm that was now surrounding him besides focus on one at a time. He pulled out a few orange potions, which he drank quickly. He was cutting through them fast, but it seemed like every time he eliminated one, another took its place. Worse yet, here came a couple of drainliars, red bats that were considerably more vicious than the normal gray ones. They flew at his head and he could see their tiny teeth when they pulled away, dripping blood…_his _blood.

He had enough energy, and he didn't see a choice now. He only managed one _Magnum Break_, and grimaced to see that a fanged, purple colored monster that Naolin had barely even noticed in the room had apparently been hit by his spell too. Before the new creature even reached him though, he suddenly felt all of his strength rapidly leaving his body. The floor came up fast. He feebly waved his sword around in an attempt to keep the rest of the chonchons at bay, and maybe kill one more, but the tsurugi clanged to the ground next to him. His vision was blurry, and his mind fought for control, not understanding what had just happened.

Out of nowhere, a pair of black, soulless eyes stared into his. The last thing Naolin saw was the purple monster bringing its arm back and bashing its fist into Naolin's skull.


	4. Chapter 4

Jonathan was friendly and liked to talk. Missy found that out quickly. After only ten minutes of conversation, he was treating Missy as someone he'd known for years. During that time, she found out that he was still a merchant at his age on purpose, being very particular about learning everything there was to know about being a merchant before moving on. Eventually the topic came back to the ore he'd said was no good.

"These pieces, they have more impurities in them than I'd like. I collect metal for the weapons I will someday forge, and I'm very picky about the material."

Missy nodded in understanding. "That's not a bad trait for a blacksmith to have. You must be pretty knowledgeable about all of this then."

The merchant held up an index finger excitedly, indicating that she should wait, as he turned back to his cart and pulled something out. "I've been studying, reading, researching, for a long time. This is my favorite book." He handed it to her. "It talks not only about the best place to hunt quality iron and steel, but also what to look for in your metal, and what will only weaken the final product. I was really interested to read in there that some of the best blacksmiths have been the same way, paying great attention to the details, which is what makes their pieces so coveted. It can really be an art form if you want it to be."

Missy was amazed at how much enthusiasm Jonathan had for a job he couldn't even do yet. As he continued on about the flaws that most people didn't even know to look for in elemental stones, Missy leafed through the book he'd handed her. She found the chapter that discussed famous blacksmiths and their techniques, and a name caught her eye. _Bramen_. This book had a page on her father, describing a tempering method he used. She read over the page, and though she didn't understand much of it, it was the most interesting thing she'd read in a long time.

"Well," Jonathan said, causing her to look up. "I didn't mean to occupy so much of your time."

"I suppose I do need to get back," Missy replied, and handed the book back reluctantly. On her way back across town, she passed a clock and saw that she actually had a few minutes still. So she headed to the nearest Kafra employee to see if she had any letters. There were two. She read the one from the priestess, Lena Isabelle, first.

_Dear Missy Kay,_

_You are causing quite the stir amongst officials here in Prontera. The merchant who wants to be an alchemist. Some of them are quite shocked by it, but I do not understand why. It seems like a natural progression of trades to me, and it suits you well. Be sure to keep me informed of your progress._

_Another name I have heard mentioned quite a bit is that of my friend Alexander. They speak about him as if he were some sort of criminal. I do not know if my superiors have learned of my connection to him. I do not believe they have, but they do seem to have grown quite suspicious of my many absences. I fear the day will soon come that I will be forced to choose between my friend and my position. When that day comes, I truly cannot guess what I will do._

_In the meantime, stay well._

_Your friend,_

_Lena_

Missy didn't know anything about Alexander outside of what she'd been told by both Lena and Naolin. Naolin had told her about this skill Alexander had used. She'd asked Lena about it, but the priestess couldn't tell her much. Just that Alexander had left the wizard guild as it was, for a reason Lena had yet to learn, and was now discovering what he could do with magic, unbound by guild laws and training. Lena had said more than once that she trusted Alexander, but Missy caught a hint of worry in her voice about what he could do unchecked. This new skill of his was probably only the beginning.

After reading the letter, Missy checked a clock again. Time to go; she'd have to read the other one, which was from Blackthore, later. On her way back to the blacksmith building, Missy realized how long it had been since she'd talked to Naolin. Last time was around midday the previous day. As she walked, she tried to contact him via com-disc, and was curious when she got no response.

"I don't know if you can hear me or not, but just talk to me when you get a minute," she said into the air, leaving the next communication up to him. "It's nothing important, just wanted to see how you're doing," she added, not wanting to worry him.

* * *

_Why are you fighting me? What have I done?_ Jump back, duck, step aside. _Why won't you stop following me? Can't you see I'm not trying to fight?_ Run, one foot in front of the other, he just kept moving. If he didn't stumble, he might get away. But what was that? More were coming. They just kept coming, and he couldn't see the daylight. _Why _is_ it so dark? Doesn't the sun have to rise eventually? Hasn't morning come yet?_

Footsteps all around, and he knew what they were. More. More darkness, and more who wanted to kill him. _Just keep running._

* * *

Five hours later, Missy had still not heard from Naolin, and was trying hard not to worry herself. It wasn't going very well. The blacksmith's name this time was Bronnan, and Missy knew he wasn't getting a fair interview.

"What skills have you learned so far as a blacksmith?" she asked him.

"Well, I know…" _Maybe he just didn't hear me earlier. Should I try again?_

"What do you feel are your strengths and weaknesses?"

"I would have to say…" _Even if he didn't hear me, I should have heard from him by now. It's been a long time since we talked at lunch yesterday._

"Do you have an area of specialization in your forging, or do you make a little of everything?"

"I'm mostly starting to focus on…" _I'm sure he's fine. He probably just hasn't had time to talk yet; it sounded like that dungeon was really crazy."_

Bronnan was patiently awaiting the next question, and Missy was trying to look like she'd been paying attention.

"Okay, uhh," she stalled, scanning the page in front of her. Where was she? "Do you—I mean, I'd like to see an example of your work, if you have some with you." He was happy to show her a mace he'd brought with him. She tried to be impressed by the extra strong property he'd given it by adding a star crumb to the elemental stone he'd also included when he forged it. She wanted to notice the engraving in the wooden handle that he'd obviously put a lot of work into. But she really wasn't paying attention.

When Bronnan left, Missy barely remembered scribbling something on his paper about him being a likely candidate. The first thing she did when the door closed was to try to contact Naolin again. When there was no response, she tried again to tell him to contact her when he had a chance.

She didn't like worrying about him like this. She knew he'd yell at her for it. But she also knew he wouldn't just ignore her. She was done in here for the day and going crazy, so she went back outside, back to the fountain. She sat on the bench for a few minutes and jumped when she heard a loud sound in her ear. It was coming through the com-disc, a loud popping sound. And then it stopped.

"Naolin?" she called through the disc. A crackle. "Naolin!" Nothing. A few people around her were looking at her funny, though she didn't care at the moment. Missy sighed. Well, this wouldn't do. Let him yell at her, but she certainly wasn't going to get anything done like this. She was going to the Orc Dungeon to find him. With that decision made, she looked around at the smattering of people around her. She didn't hold out much hope for finding a warp, but at least she'd know quickly. It wouldn't take long to ask every priest and acolyte here; by her count, there were a total of five. And there was something else…a boy, no older than herself. She was pretty sure he was staring at her, though his eyes were hidden under a wide-brimmed hat, so it was hard to be sure. She knew she'd drawn attention to herself by yelling at nobody, but everyone else had already gone back to their business. And yet, this swordsman seemed to be watching her, though trying to appear as though he wasn't.

Missy ignored the boy and quickly went from priest to acolyte to priest with no luck on her intended destination. She'd have to walk, and it was already going to be dark soon, so she quickly checked her cart for her usual basic supplies and headed straight for the western gate. She glanced behind her and was surprised to see that swordsman stand up and move in her direction. She thought he might follow her out of town and instinctively reached for her sword. When he stopped walking, she relaxed a little. He was still staring at her though, and as she turned back to face the direction she was heading, she could still feel his eyes on her back.

* * *

_There's still no daylight. Why does the sun never rise?_ Did he know this place? This dark city on which the sun refused to shine? _Maybe if I close my eyes, it won't be so dark. Maybe they've always been closed._ Where was that place? There was something here, somewhere to go. It was the place where the voices were angry, the faces were hateful. _But why is that the place? Is she there? I wouldn't think she would be._

Footsteps. They were coming again. He thought they were gone. _I can't run forever!_

* * *

By the time she reached Orc Village some hours later, Missy had mostly forgotten about that creepy swordsman. It was an especially chilly fall night, which Missy attributed to the heavy cloud cover that was effectively blocking out any moonlight. She shivered and pulled her manteau tighter around her shoulders, smiling as she remembered how she'd gotten this special manteau. It had been a birthday gift from Naolin a few months ago, and it was slotted. Missy had seen slotted manteaus in vendor shops before, but could never afford one. She had no idea how Naolin had been able to, he must have been saving zeny for a long time. It would be a long time before she found just the right card to put into it, but she was happy to have it all the same. Especially tonight.

Walking up the steps of the large house that held the entrance to the dungeon, Missy could see light inside. She realized that it was actually good that she'd come at night, when everyone was done fighting for the day. However, as she stepped inside and looked around, she didn't recognize anyone in there. She should have known better – Naolin would more likely keep fighting late into the night, coming out to collapse for a few hours before going right back down.

Missy was at a loss now. She didn't want to go into the cave to look for him; she fully knew she wouldn't get very far in there. But she couldn't exactly just sit around out here and wait for him to come out either. Especially since she didn't know if he would ever come out. That was the whole reason for coming. She looked around at the people in the room. There were quite a few of them; someone had to have seen him today. She started asking around, but the results disappointed her. A few said they'd spent the day on the lower level with the zenorcs, some hadn't been in the dungeon at all, and those who had didn't remember seeing a brown-haired swordsman being followed around by a poring. One girl remembered the poring, but not the swordsman, though she didn't imagine there were a lot of porings running around down there. Unfortunately, she said, that was this morning, and she was sorry she couldn't be of more help.

"You might want to ask them," the girl suggested, pointing to a knight and priestess who'd just come into the room. "I'll bet they could tell you something." Missy thanked the girl and went to talk to the other two.


	5. Chapter 5

"Excuse me," Missy began. "I was hoping you could help me out."

The knight didn't respond to her, but instead turned to the priestess with him and said, "Oh no, I think we've created a reputation here. People are now coming to _us_ for help!"

Missy was confused until the priestess chuckled at his apparent joke, and addressed Missy. "How can we help you?"

"I'm looking for my friend who came here a few days ago. He's a swordsman, his name is Naolin, and he might have had a poring with him."

The knight smiled. "I'm Aeldrim, by the way. That's Selunya."

"Uh, sorry. I'm Missy. I apologize if I seem rude, but I haven't heard from him since yesterday afternoon, and his com-disc was making some awful sounds today."

Aeldrim held his hand out to her, palm up, and something small sat in it. It was a com-disc. "I think this belongs to Naolin."

"So you do know him?"

"Here's what I know. Selunya and I were down in the lower level of the cave today, kinda tired of fighting the orcs outside. They're really boring, I tell ya. Anyway, we found your friend near the upper level hole down there, and he was in a huge mess. He had stuff all over him, steel chonchons, drainliars, even a zenorc."

"He was dangerously close to death," Selunya added.

"Yeah, so Selunya healed him, and I went in there and wiped everything out. He never mentioned losing his com-disc, but we found it after he'd already went back up to the first level, dropped by a steel chonchon in that area. When we asked him about it later, he said it wasn't his…but he was acting really weird. It's been in my bag since then; we were gonna take it back to town when we finally leave here."

"So you saw him even after that too?"

"We saw him back in here, around suppertime," Aeldrim nodded. "But he's not here anymore."

"No?"

Selunya explained. "When we saw him this evening, he said he'd gotten the emperium he needed and just wanted to get out of here, so I offered him a warp. He went to Geffen." She added with a chuckle, "The poring followed him in."

"How long ago?"

"A few hours."

Missy sighed. He'd warped back while she was walking here. She knew she shouldn't have been worried about him. He was fine! And now he was probably sitting in Geffen annoyed because he couldn't find her. But why didn't he notice his com-disc was missing?

"Would you like me to warp you to Geffen too?" Selunya offered.

"Please," Missy replied, reaching into her bag for the standard fee.

Selunya waved the zeny away. "No need, really." She was already casting.

"Thank you so much, both of you," Missy said as she stepped into the portal.

The priestess's warp deposited Missy in front of the Geffen tower. She immediately turned and walked south and up a ramp, back to the fountain. She'd hoped that without a way to contact her, Naolin would wait for her there. No such luck. Again she felt completely lost. Where would he be?

For twenty minutes, Missy wandered all around the streets of Geffen looking for her friend. When she came to his old home, she told herself it was ridiculous to think he might be inside, but couldn't help but wonder. What would be the harm in just looking inside? His parents were long gone, and it didn't appear to have new occupants. In fact, the door was open a few inches.

She pushed the door in more and stepped inside. Nothing. She was about to leave when she heard a noise, so against her better judgment, she kept going further into the house, through the sitting room and into a hallway. The house was definitely vacant, which made her feel better about walking through it uninvited. When she came to a bedroom, she looked inside and saw a figure leaning over a bed. Stepping inside quietly, she could see there was also someone lying in that bed. It was dark in the room, the only light coming from the hallway, which she definitely hadn't turned on, but she knew who was in the bed. She'd finally found Naolin! But who was that other figure? He must have heard her come in, because he straightened up fast and turned to face her. It was the swordsman from earlier! The one who had been staring at her. Her hand instinctively went for her sword, though she didn't quite draw it yet.

"Who are you?" she asked warily. She walked forward, and the boy backed away from her, toward the wall. He didn't answer her. She reached Naolin, while the boy kept moving, heading toward the door now. "Stop!" she warned him, drawing her sword as a warning. She didn't know if he would be intimidated by her, but she was very suspicious of this boy. Especially since Naolin hadn't moved since she came in the door, even though he had to have heard her talking. "What did you do to him?" she asked the swordsman accusingly.

He'd reached the door, but hadn't walked through it, and she was pretty sure it wasn't just because she was holding a sword on him. "I didn't do nothin'," he muttered.

She glared at him for only a moment more, then knelt down next to the bed. Naolin was burning up, sweating, and unconscious. Something was very wrong with him. She grabbed a potion from her cart, though she had no clue how she was going to get him to drink it. She turned around to see if the boy was still there. He was.

"You didn't do this to him?"

"No."

"Then what are you doing in here?"

"I was just walking by and heard something. I found him like that, I swear."

"Fine. Then help me out and go find an acolyte or a priest. Anyone who can heal him." The boy hesitated. "Go!" The swordsman finally shuffled out the door. She hoped he was doing as she asked, and not just leaving her here. Turning back to Naolin, she opened the potion bottle, and held her hand under his head. His hair was matted to his neck, and the bare mattress under his head was soaked with sweat. She held the potion bottle to his mouth and poured the orange liquid slowly. A little of it went into his mouth, but most of it flowed down his cheek and onto the bed, soaking into the mattress.

"Naolin?" she called gently, hoping the potion would wake him up.

* * *

_Is it safe now? Have they left?_ His strength was gone, so there would be no more running. _They will come again, they always do. And I cannot run. But why should I? If the day will never come, why should I fight to see it? At least it's quiet here._ Until the voices came. _I can't hear you! Why are you shouting! Did he tell you I killed him? Are you here to kill me now?_ He felt his face plunge into the water. _No…_

* * *

Naolin started coughing and reached an arm out, knocking the potion bottle out of her hands. "Naolin, oh thank goodness…" She trailed off when she realized that he was still out, and had only done this in his sleep. She sighed and pulled out another potion. She was determined to do what she could, even if it wasn't much. This time, she held onto it tighter, though she still didn't manage to get much of the liquid into him. Finally, she heard hurried footsteps out in the hallway, and the swordsman came back in, followed by a young acolyte.

"I'm here, what's going on?" the acolyte questioned.

"Here, heal him please," Missy instructed.

The acolyte did so without hesitation. Missy heard Naolin mumble something behind her.

"Naolin?" His eyes were open, but he wasn't looking at her. He was looking straight ahead, and looked scared for his life. "Are you okay?"

He finally spoke. "What? What kind of a question is that? Can't you see the blood?"

Missy was scared. What was he talking about? "There's no blood. You're completely fine."

He looked at her like she was crazy. "I think it must have been you."

"What must have been me? Naolin, what's going on?"

"Who do you think you are?" he asked her angrily. Missy was shocked. Something was still wrong; he was not himself. His eyes moved to the door, and to the swordsman who still stood there. "You tell me. You brought her here, tell me who she is." He spoke like he knew the boy. But he was obviously out of his mind, so she supposed nothing he said made a difference.

She turned to the acolyte. "What's wrong with him? Didn't you heal him?" Before he could respond, Naolin muttered something again about blood, and passed out. "Naolin!"

The acolyte cast the healing spell on Naolin a second time. "Hmm," he mused.

"What?" Missy asked, not particularly liking that response.

"Well, I don't know. I healed him, it should have been plenty. But…it doesn't seem to be having much effect. It's like something is draining his health as I heal it."

"Like he's poisoned?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"I've never seen a poison do that to someone. He's acting completely nuts!"

"I don't know what's going on, but I suggest you find someone with the detoxify skill, or a green herb." He headed for the door. "Sorry I couldn't help more."

Still kneeling next to the bed, Missy leaned her head against the mattress and sighed. A green herb. Right. The one color she didn't collect.

"Uh, listen," the swordsman spoke up behind her. "There's not many people out there, it bein' night and all, but I can try to find someone if you want. A thief or an assassin."

She silently questioned why he was suddenly volunteering to help her now, but there wasn't time to ask now. She nodded her head, and he rushed out the door. While he was gone, she rummaged around in her cart, hoping desperately that she would find a green herb in there after all. She came up empty. She could do nothing but sit next to her best friend as his life slowly slipped away. It seemed to take a little longer this time, but the swordsman came again. He had someone with him once again, and Missy stood up. It was an assassin. In fact, it was—

"Blackthore!" Missy suddenly remembered. He was coming to visit her while she was going to be in Geffen for a while. They were supposed to have lunch tomorrow. That letter from him yesterday was probably his confirmation, and she had completely forgotten.

"Hey, Missy," he smiled, but only for a second. His look changed to that of concern, and he asked, "What's going on?"

"Please, tell me you know _Detoxify_," Missy replied.

"I do." She pointed to Naolin. Blackthore did as she wanted, chuckling. "Boy ran into some trouble, did he?"

Missy frowned at his use of the word "boy." Blackthore was barely older than Naolin, and she knew he meant it to be as derogatory as it sounded. She tried to ignore his remark, and went back to Naolin's side. "Why isn't he getting better?"

"Give it time," Blackthore assured her. "I cleansed the poison, but most likely, his health had deteriorated quite a bit." His tone softened a bit. "You know, you should carry green herbs on you. Poisons can be pretty nasty."

"I don't think you have to worry about that anymore," Missy said wryly.

"Where'd this happen, anyway?" Blackthore asked, still seeming to be amused at Naolin's misfortune.

"Orc Dungeon."

The look on his face became grim immediately. "Zenorc poison. This may be more serious than I thought."


	6. Chapter 6

"What do you mean? What makes zenorc poison so bad?"

"By itself, nothing. But it's something that's mentioned in the poison training available to assassins. Not a lot of people even know about it, but it's why people are so strongly reminded to bring green herbs when they are going to the lower parts of Orc Dungeon. There's this deadly combination down there. The poison of a zenorc, the steel chonchon's blinding effect, and a shadow attack that drainliars use. Separately, they're mostly harmless, but together…he should have had the poison cleansed sooner. The longer it's in him, the less effective normal poison curing techniques will be."

"So he is still sick?" Missy asked dejectedly.

"Probably. Have you noticed anything odd about him?"

"You mean the fact that when he was awake, he was out of his mind?"

The assassin nodded. "That's what this stuff does. It kills you slowly, and while you're dying, you eventually forget everything and everyone you know, including yourself. There's also the paranoia, the delusions…it's not pretty."

"So what does it take to cure it when _Detoxify _doesn't work?"

Blackthore held his hands up. "I don't know. Our training doesn't mention a cure for a long-term affliction. As far as I know, everyone in the past who didn't have it cured right away…"

He didn't have to finish that sentence. Missy understood. "Well, there has to be something!" She looked at the swordsman who hadn't spoken lately. He looked saddened by this news, which made her angry. "He's not going to die! There has to be something. A spell, or a potion, or…" And then she knew what to try. Unfortunately, it would mean leaving Naolin, which she desperately did not want to do. "Is there any way to prolong the time he has?"

"I'm just guessing at this point, but I'd say that it's just like any other poison in that way. I would think with a potion now and then, he'll have more time."

Missy went to her cart and pulled it over. There was a large quantity of orange potions inside. "Blackthore, I have to ask you a huge favor. I think I know somewhere I can get some information on this."

"Where's that?"

"I'll explain later, I think I'm already pushing it to go this late. But I really need you to stay with Naolin, keep as much potion in him as you can. I know you don't like him, but don't do this for him, okay? Do it for me." Missy felt a little manipulative putting it that way, but she couldn't risk him saying no.

"Of course I'll help you, Missy. Just because I don't like the guy doesn't mean I want him to die."

She thanked him and left him in the room with both swordsmen. She was really surprised that the boy was still around, and wasn't even sure if that bothered her right now or not. All she could really think of at the moment was how much she hoped that the alchemists in Al de Baran knew of a potion for this special poison. She wasted no time getting to the northern city, paying the extra zeny for a Kafra teleport in this time of emergency. As she entered the alchemist building, she was relieved to see a woman sitting at a desk inside. Missy explained the situation to her, and the woman told her that someone was probably still in the lab. Thankfully, there was indeed someone downstairs; it was Ras, the man she'd met with a few days ago.

"Missy Kay!" he greeted her. "Back so soon?"

"Yes," she replied. "But not for the reason you think." She again recounted what had brought her here, trying to stress the severity of the situation.

"I see," was his only response. He walked over to one of many bookshelves lining the walls throughout the basement and spent a few minutes scanning the titles. When he selected a book, he took it to the closest table and started flipping through the pages until he found what he was looking for.

"We haven't made this potion in over a decade," he said, more to himself than to Missy.

"You have a potion for this?" she asked hopefully.

The alchemist looked up at her. "It won't cure him. It will merely separate the elements that have combined to create the deadly poison inside of him."

"But they're manageable separately, right?"

"Very much so. The shadow will fade immediately, and the poison will be cleansable. The blindness, which is what you've seen manifested as paranoia, delusions, and loss of memory, will wear off eventually, though it could take a few hours."

Missy was so relieved, she thought she might cry. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

The look on his face suggested that he thought she should know the answer to that. "Yes, there is a lot you must do." He explained to her that the list of ingredients for this particular antidote was longer than most, and that she would need to collect most of them. "I realize that some of these items may be quite difficult for you to procure. I can only hope you have some help for this." He handed her the list. "I will go and wake Darthia while you are gone. We will need her help to make the potion."

He wasn't kidding about her needing help for this list. She scanned it on her way back to the Kafra to take yet another teleport. Witched starsand? Mould powder, anolian skin…how would she get all of these items? A few of them she didn't even know _where_ to get. Back in Geffen, she ran back to the house.

"How is he?" she asked breathlessly.

"No worse," Blackthore assured her. "Did you find out anything?"

"I did," she answered him as she walked over to stand at Naolin's side. "The alchemists in Al de Baran can make a potion for this. It's up to me to get the items they'll need though, and I cannot do it alone. I'll need your help, but we can't leave him. He won't survive long enough if someone doesn't keep feeding him potions."

The next voice she heard was one she wasn't expecting. "Go," commanded the swordsman, who was sitting in a stool in the corner of the room, hat off now, revealing shaggy blue hair. He was suddenly so familiar to her now, but she couldn't place the face. "I'll stay with him and keep him alive."

_Not a chance_, thought Missy decisively. "Look, no offense, but I don't know you. And so far, you kinda creep me out. I have no way of knowing that you won't just up and leave him here alone."

"I don't think you're going to have a lot of choice here, Missy," Blackthore said quietly.

The boy stood up and walked over to Missy, looking her straight in the eye. "I understand you have no reason to trust me. And all I can really tell you is that I want to help. Anyone else you could find around here to stay with him would be a complete stranger to you too. I'm sorry for upsetting you earlier, but I did go find you that acolyte. And this guy," he gestured at Blackthore. "Please, let me help." He held her gaze for a long moment, and Missy was surprised at what she saw in his eyes. He was genuinely concerned about Naolin, and she believed he would do as he said. She nodded slowly, turned to be sure there were still plenty of potions in her cart, and followed Blackthore outside.

"Where to?" he questioned as they headed toward the Kafra employee. She handed him the list, and he whistled. "This is going to take a while, even with two of us."

"Yeah, I was afraid of that," Missy nodded. "I know that we'll have to go to the Orc Dungeon and Coal Mines at the very least."

Blackthore pointed at the list. "We'll have to go to the Clock Tower in Al de Baran for that one. This one here too. Anolian skin…I think that's the only one that won't require going into a dungeon of some sort."

She had a thought, one she'd been contemplating for a while. She had no idea if it would work, but there was no other way to get help quickly. "Give me a second," she said to Blackthore, and they both stopped walking. She raised her right arm and turned the dial on her com-disc to the direct link setting. "Aeldrim," she pronounced carefully and clearly. The disc beeped, announcing a successful connection. She took a deep breath. "Excuse me, Aeldrim?"

As she waited for a response, she started to feel horrible for contacting him so late at night. He was probably asleep; how could she ask him for a favor like this after waking him up?

Noise came over her com-disc, and a word partially cut off. "-- lo?"

"Aeldrim?"

"Yes, voice in my head?"

"Sorry, um, this is Missy Kay. I met you a few hours ago over at Orc Village."

"Yes, of course. Did you find our Naolin?"

"I did. I found him sick, near dead, from some kind of crazy illness he picked up in the dungeon there."

"Really?"

"You said he was acting a little weird. And he didn't think thing that com-disc you found was his. This thing, it did something to his mind; he's not himself. And it's fatal, very fatal." She heard him saying something, but couldn't understand it. She assumed he was talking to Selunya. "I didn't wake you at this hour only to tell you of this. I was actually desperately hoping you could help me." In this situation, Missy would normally be inclined to apologize for waking them, and for expecting them to help a virtual stranger. But at this point, she had no time for apologies, and certainly was not sorry for doing whatever she had to do to help her best friend. Luckily, she had found two very helpful, friendly people to ask.

"What can we do?" Aeldrim asked right away.

Missy quickly told him about the potion. "Two of the items I need are from right there where you guys are. A zenorc's fang and a wing of a red bat."

"Oh sure, sure. I've got plenty of both of those on me right now."

Missy smiled to herself. "I was hoping you would say that."

"Ok, so what else?"

"If you can bring me those, you'll already be doing so much for me."

"No no no, that can't be all. Give us something else. Something difficult!"

"Well…there's the Coal Mines, the Clock Tower--"

"Clock Tower, now you're talking. Selunya and I are pretty chummy with a few habitants of that place. What do you need?"

She told him, and he promised to contact her as soon as he had the items. Blackthore looked at her with raised eyebrows, and she informed him, "All we need to find is the anolian skin and the oil from the undead lantern."

"That cuts the time down considerably," he commented. "The lantern won't be a problem at all, and I think we can get some of that skin off of the alligators out by Comodo." He thought for a moment, then suggested, "We'll have to reach Comodo by way of Morroc, which will require a stop in Prontera. The Kafra ladies are going to see a lot of us today, I'm thinking." He was already heading to the employee next to the fountain in town, without even a hesitancy in his stride.

Following quickly behind him, before they paid the woman for the teleport to Prontera, Missy said, "I can't tell you how grateful I am that you're helping me with this. It would have taken me hours in the library to figure all of this out, not to mention asking around for the best way to get from here to Comodo. Thank you so much for everything; I will repay you somehow."

Blackthore looked at her for a moment, tilting his head. "I'm helping you as a friend, Missy. I don't expect anything from you." The way he stared at her, Missy had to look away. Tears were welling up in her eyes, and she did not have time for that right now. He cleared his throat. "Make sure you're registered here."

"I am," Missy confirmed. "Let's go."


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Oh, someone noticed Blackthore's unmentioned job change! Kudos to you! I don't normally put notes like this in front of a chapter, but to you guys who have been reading this, I love your feedback! It's so specific, and tells me precisely what you like about the story. There are only two chapters (and probably a short epilogue) left to this story, I can't believe it's that close already. Not to worry though, there is still at least one story left in the series. Keep an eye on my profile if you're interested in what's coming up in the series, or other works. I'll try and keep it updated._

* * *

They were in Comodo in minutes and immediately headed east through the sandy coastal town. Even here, where the party was said to last all night, the houses were dark, and the residents were sleeping. It struck Missy that she should be exhausted by now, but she didn't feel tired at all. They made the trip in silence until they entered the east cave, Mao, at which point Blackthore had a question for her.

"Do you mind if I ask how you were able to get this information so easily?"

Considering the secrecy the alchemists seemed to employ, she wasn't altogether certain if she should tell him about their plans. But they'd never mentioned the need for her to keep it to herself, so she saw no harm in telling him.

After she'd explained, he nodded knowingly. "I had wondered what the merchants would come up with." Missy questioned that statement, and now it was his turn to explain. "I've been hearing about it lately. Some of the powers-that-be of Rune-Midgard decided that it just wouldn't do to offer alternate options for a couple of the beginner classes, and not for the rest. So they're pressuring the guild leaders of those lacking a choice to come up with one." They side-stepped a hydra, and Blackthore continued talking. "Personally, I think forcing the development of new classes will only turn out badly. But alchemy, eh? Doesn't sound so bad."

"What I've learned about it so far sounds pretty exciting. And you know, all that you just said kind of clears something up. I had really wondered why those mysterious, reclusive alchemists were so willing to create an official guild and job class centered on their work." Their conversation ended there, as they had reached the other side of the cave and stepped from the cool, damp darkness inside to the warm, damp darkness outside.

Blackthore led the way, picking a route through the forest beyond the cave. Soon, he pointed out a green, scaly creature with a long, wide snout. It walked upright and wore a black and white striped shirt. Blackthore warned Missy to let him have the alligator's full attention, which she did, but as he was still a new assassin, the creature landed quite a few blows. He used several potions between fights, and though he'd said he wanted nothing in return for helping her, she fully intended to at least give him whatever potions her cart still held when this was over. Luckily, it took them only a few kills to get the skin they needed, and they were back in Geffen with a flick of the wrist.

Missy turned immediately to head east, while Blackthore stepped toward the Kafra employee just north of where their butterfly wings had deposited them. "Where are you going?" he questioned.

"To check on Naolin," she answered in a tone that suggested that he should know as much.

"No, no, come on," he insisted, waving her over. "You really can't take the time; you're going to have to trust that swordsman." She didn't move, so Blackthore stepped over to her and pulled her by the arm.

As they headed into the Coal Mines, Missy mused, "Trust him? I don't even know his name. Oh geez, I don't even know his name! How could I leave Naolin alone with that guy?"

"You didn't have a lot of other options," Blackthore reminded her.

"Maybe not, but that guy really creeped me out." She recalled the feeling caused by his eyes on her earlier and felt ill. How could she have left Naolin with him? He could be dead already for all she knew! She had to go back before it would be too late to pick up where that swordsman probably left him. "Just…hold on," she told the assassin.

He knew what she was doing. "Just hurry," was all he said. And like that she was gone.

Missy ran with all the speed she could manage, angry with her body for choosing now to feel the fatigue she'd expected hours ago. By now it was well after midnight, by a few hours, Missy guessed. She really should get a watch someday. She hurried to the old house she'd left Naolin at, her stomach churning as she imagined how she might find him. Through the door, past the sitting room, and down the hall a little, she turned into the bedroom door and stopped short. The boy was in there after all, sitting on the floor next to the cot. He was leaning forward, his head resting on the edge of the bed. She noticed that a bare bulb now illuminated the room; the boy must've found it. There was a considerable dent in the amount of potions she could see in her cart, and she almost felt silly for being so worried. Her concern was justified, though, she was sure of that. She left quietly, not wanting to disturb the swordsman, and hurried back to the Coal Mines, remembering before she went in to retrieve a few extra butterfly wings from the Kafra employee outside. She gave the woman her name and her simple request, and received the wings. Then she turned around to head into the cave where Blackthore was waiting, and almost ran into a taller man standing directly behind her.

"Hey!" she yelped involuntarily.

"Whoa, sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he replied in a familiar voice. It was so dark out here, though, that all Missy could make out was his frame. And she had no time to waste here.

"Don't worry about it," she said, moving to walk around him. He didn't step in her way, but he did follow alongside her as she walked into the cave. In the torch light inside, she peered closely at the man and recognized the merchant she'd met earlier today.

"Jonathan?"

"Well yeah. Oh, I'm sorry, you probably couldn't see who I was out there! I didn't even think about that. I just heard you give your name to the Kafra and thought I'd come say hi."

"Well, hi," Missy replied as amiably as possible while still walking. Jonathan kept walking as well. "I'm sorry if I seem rude, I'm heading to the deepest area of the cave for something very important."

The merchant was quite understanding. "Don't let me stop you. In fact, can I be of any assistance?"

She saw Blackthore ahead now, and thought that having an extra persona long could only help. "Sure," she answered him. She quickly introduced the two guys to each other, and they nodded their greeting.

They reached the maze quickly, and stopped. It became apparent that Blackthore had never been here before, as he marveled over the puzzle before them. Missy admitted that though she'd been here once, she and Naolin had been lucky to find their way through that time. Fortunately, Jonathan said he'd been this way quite a bit recently, so he could lead them through.

No sooner had they started into the labyrinth than a bat appeared, heading straight for Missy. She reached for her sword to quickly take care of the nuisance, but Jonathan swatted it out of the air before she had a chance. When Missy saw the ax he used, she almost choked. It was very crude, the head was rough, she couldn't even make out what style of axe it was meant to be. But the edge seemed sharp, nonetheless.

As they started moving again, Jonathan noticed her staring at his weapon and held it out. "What do you think?"

"I think that whoever made it needs to practice quite a bit before they sell any more," was all Missy could say.

"Don't worry, I don't plan on selling any of my weapons just yet," he replied with a smile.

This time she did choke. "_You_ made that?"

He nodded proudly. "It's not so difficult, really. The information was all there, I just had to put it together myself. I don't have access to any of the official weapon designs that blacksmiths learn, but the ability to make a basic axe…that much I could figure out."

"That's amazing," Blackthore marveled. "A merchant making weapons, what next?"

"I'm actually very surprised it's not more common. Even that one book I had gave me a lot of the information I needed, from the material you start with right down to tempering it."

"Tempering?" Missy echoed.

"Yeah," Jonathan replied excitedly. "The Bramen method. It's incredible. I only wish I'd had a chance to watch the man work before he died. Now he was an amazing artist."

Missy caught a look from Blackthore at the mention of her father's name. She just shook her head at him. Definitely not something to be getting into right now.

"That really is impressive," Missy said. "You're going to be an incredible blacksmith."

"Thank you."

They walked for a while in silence, which Missy was grateful for right now. The memories of last winter, added to her current concern, were almost too much to handle. Luckily, they soon reached the track that spanned the pit and led to their destination, and all three walked across carefully. Missy still thought they should have some kind of railing there.

Through the next doorway, they found many skeleton workers eager for a fight. Difficulty in a dungeon often increased if one went in the middle of the night like this, as they tended to be the only humans there, the only target for all of the monsters in the area. Missy expected the time they spent here to be short for that very reason. However, as they killed the first few that approached them, they were very disappointed.

"There's barely any oil in this lantern," Missy moaned. The list had been very specific. The potion needed enough lantern oil to fill an empty bottle, which Missy had been sure to bring with her. And when she poured out what was in the lantern she held, it only just covered the bottom. Both Blackthore and Jonathan had a lantern as well, and the results were similar. And extremely disappointing.

"You need to fill that?" Jonathan asked, pointing to the bottle. When Missy nodded, he smiled. "Well come on then." He walked further into the room, found a small crowd of workers, and swung his axe at one. Blackthore followed right behind him and stood directly in front of a worker, katars drawn and ready. The air bristled about him and he suddenly let loose multiple attacks in rapid succession, after which the worker promptly fell over. As he turned to repeat the action on another one, Missy joined the guys with her fire tsurugi, moving right to the next when one fell on its face at her feet. The small party didn't slow down, building momentum until they'd attracted more attention than Missy thought they could deal with before someone was seriously injured.

"Can I borrow this?" she asked Jonathan, reaching for a handle of his cart. He nodded, though obviously unsure of what she wanted it for. The cart was full of iron, ore, coal, and steel, as she'd hoped it would be. Remembering how well the attack had worked for her once before, she stepped into the middle of the workers and let out a yell as she spun around in a circle, hitting and knocking back everything in about a three-foot radius around her.

Even with her general lack of agility, Missy had been able to dodge most of the workers' assaults, but the cart attack caused most of those that had been spread between the three of them to turn to her. As they moved slowly toward her, pickaxes ready, she held the handle of the cart tightly, waiting for just the right moment. The first worker to reach her brought its ax around to strike her, and she jumped to the side quickly. When the same worker came again, its attack was duplicated immediately by a few workers behind it, and more than one landed solidly. Her arm and side screamed in pain, but she knew this was the right moment. She whirled the cart around, two full rotations this time, and many of the workers fell dead from the attack. The attack took a lot out of her though, combined with her injuries, and she stumbled backwards and away from the monsters that were left.


	8. Chapter 8

Jonathan stared at her with wide eyes, impressed by what he'd just seen her do with his cart. Blackthore glanced at the still advancing undead creatures, then over at his exhausted friend, and quickly disappeared in a flash of light. A few seconds later, spikes erupted from the ground, going out in a crooked line that originated from the spot where the assassin stood hidden. With the help of Jonathan's axe, the rest of the workers finally fell over dead. Missy immediately began to sift through the remains for the lanterns, and filled the empty bottle to the top with oil.

"Missy," Blackthore said as he became visible again. "You're hurt."

"Oh, right." She reached into her bag and pulled out an orange potion. After drinking it, the pain had subsided, but not disappeared completely. As she grabbed another one, she told Jonathan, "I really appreciate your help."

"Oh, it was fun," he assured her. "That thing you did with my cart, that was amazing!"

"Heh, thanks," she replied. "We're going to be heading back to Geffen now. Are you staying?"

"Yeah," he glanced over at the cart. "I think I'm going to enjoy this place even more now."

Missy chuckled lightly. "Well, just be careful. They don't really appreciate that attack too much." She gestured to her arm as she said this.

She and Blackthore said goodbye to Jonathan, and were back in Geffen swiftly. This time they both headed to the house, but Missy stopped when she heard someone nearby say her name. She looked around and saw no one she recognized, then she realized why. It was her com-disc; it was Aeldrim.

"We have completed our mission," the knight said. "Where shall we meet you?"

"Where are you now?" Missy questioned.

"Al de Baran, just outside the tower," came the answer.

"Stay there, I'll meet you shortly. And thank you so much."

"You bet."

Missy turned to Blackthore, who had been patiently waiting during the exchange. "They're waiting in Al de Baran, which is where the alchemists are anyway. I'm just going to go now; I'll be back as soon as I have the potion. I have one more favor to ask of you." She reached into her bag once again and pulled out a small pouch. It was her money pouch, every zeny she owned. "Take this. See how many potions are left in my cart and buy more if you need to. Hopefully they can make the potion quickly, but I know nothing about alchemy yet, so I don't know how long I'll be."

"Don't worry," Blackthore assured her. "He'll be okay. He's lucky to have someone as wonderful as you working so hard to save his life."

Missy felt her cheeks warming as she smiled, then turned to buy one last teleport from the Kafra. The main street of Al de Baran was lit by two tall lamps, and Missy spotted Aeldrim and Selunya immediately. They were the only people there, save the ever-present Kafra employee.

"Ah, there she is," Aeldrim called. "And you said she wouldn't show, Selunya."

"Oh, I did not!" the priestess objected, grinning in amusement.

Aeldrim smiled as well, but only for a brief moment. Then he turned to Missy. "How is our Naolin?"

"He's alive. That's all I can really say for him."

"Then we shall remedy that," he announced, reaching for a bag that hung from his belt. He handed her all four items she needed, a handful of each.

"I don't think I'll need this much," Missy said, trying to give some of it back to him. He stopped her with a raised hand.

"Keep it, just to be sure."

"I--I don't know how to thank you," was all she could say now. She felt indebted to so many people by this point, and could never offer them what she felt they deserved for helping her with such an important task.

Selunya looked at her with kind, caring eyes. "Let us know when he's okay, will you?" Missy nodded and resisted the urge to hug this woman she barely knew. She jogged to the alchemist building, heading straight to the basement once inside. There she found the woman, Darthia, alone.

After saying hello, Darthia explained, "Ras went home to get some sleep. He was dead on his feet. Much like you appear to be."

"I'm okay."

Darthia nodded at her skeptically. "Yes well, we'll just be glad you aren't making the potion. A good deal of concentration is required to make one this strong. The wrong mix of ingredients could produce unwelcome results."

_Again with the dramatics_, Missy thought. _Like I'm not worried enough as it is_.

"Fortunately, my specialty has always been making the potions," Darthia continued. "Ras does most of the researching." Darthia held her hand out, and Missy gave her the items from the list. "Now, I will have to ask you to wait upstairs. Until you have become an alchemist yourself, I'm afraid I cannot permit you to be in the room for this." Missy obliged, not particularly caring one way or the other at this point. She sat in a chair upstairs and waited. The clock on the wall read 2:55. She had no idea it had gotten so late. She leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes.

When Darthia called her name a few minutes later, she was surprised. It hadn't taken long at all to make the potion. "I apologize for the wait," the alchemist said.

Missy glanced at the clock. Apparently it had taken some time after all; it was 3:30. She must've dozed off, not that she felt any more refreshed after the short nap. She stood up as quickly as her suddenly rubbery legs would let her, and tried to speak clearly when she replied, "It's okay." She took the bottle of dark yellow liquid Darthia handed her.

"Ras told you how this potion works, right?"

"He said that it will separate the three elements, and that they could be taken care of like that."

"Yes. Just remember that he will probably remain unconscious for a few hours as the blind attack wears off. Give him time to recover. His body has been through a lot."

"Thank you. Thank you so much for this," Missy cried.

The alchemist smiled at her. "I look forward to seeing you back here very soon, Missy Kay."

Missy bowed her head slightly, then left the building. As soon as she stepped outside, she used one more butterfly wing and returned to Geffen. By the time she reached the house, she was sprinting. When she entered the room, Blackthore was sitting on the floor near the door, and the swordsman was still sitting at the bed, with a potion in his hand. A yellow potion. She'd left him with orange, hadn't she? Somehow this thought lodged itself in her tired brain, and when the swordsman held his hand out to her, she looked at him blankly.

"Did you get the potion?" he asked urgently.

"Right, yes!" she snapped her head from its fog. She gave the bottle to him, and he immediately began to pour it into Naolin's mouth. Once it was empty, the swordsman stood up and offered his seat to Missy, though she didn't sit yet. She told Blackthore to use his _Detoxify_ skill again, which he did. Then she asked about the potions.

"I guess I got a little overzealous," the boy said. "I didn't know how bad the poison was, so I was givin' him the potions pretty often. When the cart was getting low, I ran to the tool dealer and bought some yellows, just to be safe."

"You left him alone?" Missy yelped, startling Blackthore on the floor.

"I had to!" the swordsman defended himself. "It was five minutes, tops. I promise. You'd rather I ran out of potions?"

"Missy," Blackthore said quietly. "Ease up. The kid's still here, isn't he?"

"I know, I'm sorry." She closed her eyes and tried to calm down. "You didn't need to buy any more when you got here then?" she asked Blackthore. He shook his head and handed her the pouch of zeny, which she in turn held out to the swordsman.

He shook his head. "What do you want me to do with that?"

"For the potions you bought. Blackthore's right. I don't even know you, you don't know us, and I definitely didn't trust you. But you stayed, and you helped so much. Take this as my thanks." Probably the only person in all of this she could even begin to repay. But the boy just kept shaking his head and even backed away a little. The look on his face suggested that what she was offering him was sickening.

"You want to pay me for helping to save his life? No, thanks." He stepped toward the door. "Uh look, I have to go to the bathroom pretty bad. Bein' that I didn't want to leave him and all…"

After he'd left, Blackthore stood up and walked over to Missy. "So what's the deal now? Is he getting better or what?"

"It's supposed to take a few hours."

"Well listen, why don't you go get some rest in the meantime? I can keep an eye on him. He's out of the woods now, right?"

"Yeah. No. I mean, he's supposed to be safe, yeah. But I'm not leaving him. I can't."

"Okay." He sighed. "Okay. Then I'm gonna go see if I can get a room at the inn. I'll be back in a few hours. Come get me if anything happens."

Missy was alone for twenty minutes. She started to wonder if the swordsman had fallen asleep himself, or if…well, she was done thinking that he would just disappear. He'd surprised her too many times by now. So when he came back in, she greeted him, and for once, remembered to ask him the question she should have hours ago.

"What's your name?"

"Drear."

She looked at him for a few moments, and pieces started to fall together in her mind. He was watching her earlier after she'd called Naolin's name a few times. Naolin talked to him like he knew him, though she'd just assumed it was part of the delusions. He looked familiar to her when she first saw him without his hat on. And he was here, helping a perfect stranger, in the middle of the night. Only he wasn't helping a perfect stranger. He was helping family.

"You're Naolin's brother, aren't you?"

Drear started at that. The look on his face was all the answer she needed.

"Why didn't you just tell me in the first place?" she asked.

"You wouldn't have believed me if I had."

"I might have. You should've tried; it could have made things a lot easier on both of us."

"I suppose." He walked over to the wall and slid down to sit it on the floor. "So you know my brother?"

"Yes, I do," she affirmed. He looked at her as if he expected more, and she contemplated what to say. "We've been friends for a few years now. We train together." It didn't seem like enough, but what else was there to say?

"You saved his life," Drear stated.

"Nothing he hasn't done for me before," she smiled. They sat in silence for a few more minutes, then Missy suddenly remembered something. "Beanbag!"

"What?"

"Beanbag, it's a poring. I completely forgot about it, and I haven't seen it here at all."

"That poring? That's your pet or something?"

"Well…not really mine. Wait, so you saw it?" She didn't like the look on his face at all. "What?"

"I saw it, yeah. I was going to kill it, but I couldn't bear to. It looked really sad and stuff, it was weird. But it just wouldn't leave, so I shut it in another room."

Missy breathed a relieved sigh. She picked up a bottle of apple juice from the supply of them she kept in her cart and asked him which room. She found Beanbag inside, in the corner of the room, with its eyes closed. As soon as she opened the door and dropped the apple juice on the floor, it perked right up and happily followed her back to the other room. Once Beanbag had returned to its home in her cart, Drear stood up.

"I'm falling asleep here. And I can't stand this waiting. I'll be back, but I can't just sit here. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Missy said sincerely. "Go, get some sleep. He'll be okay."

"I'm glad you were here to help him," the swordsman said before he ducked out into the hall.

"So am I," Missy whispered, sitting next to the bed and taking Naolin's clammy hand in hers.


	9. Chapter 9

Naolin lay on the bed, becoming slightly more aware of his surroundings. Or at least, of names that were somehow floating around him. Missy. Drear. Blackthore…? _Missy_…Drear?! The voices were familiar, some more soothing than others. But anything was better than the horror he remembered feeling as he walked around in the dark, being chased by unknown assailants. There were no conscious thoughts just yet, only the feeling that he was finally safe, somehow.

As awareness finally settled in around him, he welcomed it. The first thing he noticed when he opened his eyes was the light. The beautiful light that he never thought he'd see again. Then, it was something more precious than the light. It was her. The white-haired woman from his dreams; the one he'd been trying to find. No, that wasn't right. She wasn't from his dreams, she was real. She was right here. Holding his hand, her head resting on the bed next to him.

He closed his eyes again, enjoying the moment. He was safe, he was with her, and her hand was in his. And then suddenly, the moment was gone. _What the hell happened to me?_

He tried to speak, to call her name. But the word only came out as a grunt. It was enough, and she lifted her head.

"Naolin?" Her eyes met his and immediately filled with tears. She looked hesitant, like she wasn't even sure if it was him or not. He tried to smile to reassure her, but his lips wouldn't cooperate any more than his voice had. He squeezed her hand, happy that at least one body part was working. This brought a smile from her.

He tried again to talk, but his mouth was bone dry, and he could only manage a grunt. She seemed to understand and turned away, coming back with a bottle of water, which she held out to him. He saw now the state she was in. She was dirty, had a few bloody holes in her clothes from wounds he could only hope were healed by now, and her eyes were bloodshot and puffy. He tried to sit up to drink, deciding that his head had gained a few pounds while he was out. She brought the bottle to his slightly lifted head and helped him drink. It occurred to him that he would never even consider letting anyone but her cater to him this way.

He drank half the bottle before his thirst was satisfied enough to let him appease the throbbing in his skull by laying his head back down again. She hadn't let go of his hand yet, so he squeezed it again before trying his voice again.

"Missy," the name finally came out as he wanted it to. She smiled when he said her name, and the tears in her eyes spilled over. "Are you okay?" Now she laughed and cried at the same time, and put her other hand on top of his.

"Am I okay?" she repeated.

"Well, yeah," Naolin confirmed. "Did those blacksmiths mob you or something?" He pointed at one of the bloody rips in her shirt.

She was still laughing, but trying to stop so she could talk to him. "No, no, I'm okay." She took a minute to breath, and finally became serious. "Do you have any idea what's happened to you?"

"I wish I did."

"It's a pretty long story."

"I've got time," he replied wryly.

She told him the whole story in detail, as he listened with rapt attention. He stopped her now and then to ask a question or make a comment.

"So you met Aeldrim then. Quite the character, isn't he?"

"Did I really say that, about the blood? I don't remember waking up at all."

"Blackthore! That punk?"

"Heh, I'll have to remember to thank your alchemist friends someday soon."

"Wait, did you say merchant? I didn't know that was possible!"

"I can't believe you got so many people to help you. Say, who's this swordsman you keep mentioning?"

By the time Missy was done with the story, Naolin was propped up on one elbow, facing her, where she still sat on the floor next to the bed. His head seemed to have reverted to its normal weight, or at least close to it, and he was generally feeling less like he'd come so close to dying.

"It doesn't look like those workers were too kind to you down there," he commented.

"It's okay, I had help."

He groaned. "Don't remind me. It's incredible, everything you did. But Blackthore? I'd rather die than to owe anything to that--" He stopped quickly when he saw the look on her face.

"Don't joke like that," she said softly. "You came really close."

He took her hand again, as she'd let go during the course of the storytelling. "I'm sorry. I just meant that--"

"I know what you meant."

They were both silent for a few minutes. Naolin knew he shouldn't have been so flippant about his near-death, especially considering Missy's recent loss. _Are you really comparing yourself to that great man she so loved and admired?_ he chastised himself. Maybe not, but it was clear she preferred him alive, and he knew of no one else that likely felt the same way about him.

Squeezing her hand again, he asked her, "You really thought I would be mad at you for coming to find me?" Missy shrugged sheepishly at that. "I'm glad you risked incurring my wrath. You saved my life."

"I figured I owed you one," she said with an infectious grin.

"Then I'd say we're even," he chuckled. He caught her eyes, and once again they both fell silent. He forgot what they were talking about, but it didn't matter anymore. Somehow, when he looked into her eyes, no conversation was needed. Just like a couple of days ago when he was leaving for Orc Dungeon.

She finally looked away, blushing. "You should get some rest," she said, standing up. "I'm going to go get a room in your name at the inn. When you think you're up for the walk, you'll be more comfortable there."

"Thank you," he said. "You won't be gone long?"

"Not at all," she replied, and moved toward the door. Before she stepped through it, she turned back and handed him something. It was his com-disc.

"How did you possibly find this?" She'd left that part out of the story.

"I didn't," she answered. "I'll tell you that part later." As she walked out into the hallway, she ran into someone coming from the other direction. Naolin could hear her talking quietly to a man, whose voice sounded familiar. Then another voice he didn't recognize. The second voice told Missy they'd brought her some breakfast. She expressed her gratitude, after which the same voice asked if he was awake.

"Yeah," he heard Missy say. "I was just coming to tell you guys. He's going to be okay."

"That's good news," the first voice, which Naolin decided must belong to Blackthore, said.

A few more things were said that Naolin couldn't make out, then Missy said, "You should go in. I think he'll be happy to see you." The voice he still didn't recognize mumbled something, to which Missy responded, "At least go talk to him."

Naolin was by now very curious to know who this was. After a few more exchanges, a boy finally walked into the room. He had blue hair that was styled the same as Naolin's, and was wearing the same swordsman garb. Naolin knew immediately who this was. So he hadn't been a dream either.

"Drear."

"Hello, Brother."

* * *

Missy heard a little of what was said before she left the hallway. Naolin was curious about how Drear was even here, having assumed he'd moved away with their parents. The conversation was rigid, which Missy thought was odd. It had seemed like he was upset at the thought of never seeing his brother again; she thought he would have reacted differently. But then, this was Naolin, whose personality was not inclined to be warm or emotional. No matter, it wasn't her business anyway.

Right now, she couldn't think of much beyond the warm plate of sausage and eggs that Drear and Blackthore had brought her. She hadn't eaten since yesterday morning, and hadn't even realized how ravenous she was. She took the plate back to the room at the inn that had been her home for the last few nights, and ate the food quickly. Glancing for only a second at her bed, which she didn't remember looking quite so comfortable before, she hurried back out the door. As she walked back into the house, she was met by Blackthore, who was still outside of the bedroom.

"Hey, Missy, I think I should just take off now," he said.

"Are you sure? We were going to have lunch today," she reminded him.

"Yeah, I know. But I think under the circumstances, it's best just to postpone that. We're both pretty tired, and I think we both know that you'll want to be with Naolin today." Missy couldn't argue with his logic, so she said goodbye to him, making him promise to let her know when he wanted to reschedule for.

Missy walked back into the room and was pleased to find the atmosphere less tense than she'd expected. Drear was again sitting on the stool to the left of the bed, and Naolin was on the bed, but sitting, leaning against the wall. They both greeted her when she came in and offered her a seat.

"Actually, I think I should leave you guys alone. You haven't seen each other in a long time, and I don't want to intrude on your reunion."

"You don't have to go," Naolin insisted. "Really, stay. Please."

"Um," Drear spoke up, and the other two looked at him. "I was actually hoping that we could get out of here." He made a disgusted face.

"I am right there with ya, man," Naolin chuckled. He started scooting forward and Missy went to help him.

"Why did you come back here, anyway?" his brother asked him curiously.

As he tested his legs, he answered, "I don't know. I wasn't exactly thinking clearly. I guess it was just the most familiar place to me in this town." By now, Drear had come over to his other side to help as well. "The only thing I really remember was the thought, the _hope_, that someone…important…would be here." It was only a quick, hardly noticeable glance at her, but Missy caught it. And felt her face warm a little.

They walked north across town to the inn, and Naolin found his legs fully capable of moving on their own, though the trio still walked slowly. By the time they reached their destination, Naolin reluctantly decided that he needed a long nap, and Missy and Drear left him in his room. Back out in the hallway, Missy announced that she was going to bed before she collapsed as well. Drear stopped her before she went into her room.

"I'm sorry I freaked you out so much yesterday. I could tell I made you nervous when I started following you out of town; that's why I stopped. But I heard you saying my brother's name, and I never knew what happened to him. So I thought you were going to see him."

"Again, why didn't you just say something?" she inquired.

"For the same reason I didn't look him up after I left my family's home and became a swordsman. I didn't know how much he would hate me, the one who still had his parents' love, when he didn't."

Missy recalled the conversation when Naolin first told her about his other brother. The regret he portrayed at seemingly losing his brother forever. "He doesn't hate you."

"I know," Drear smiled. "We talked."

Missy smiled too, nodding. "Are you sticking around?"

"Definitely."

"Then I'll see you later," she said, and went into her room.


	10. Epilogue

During the time they spent in Geffen, Naolin and Drear made up for lost time. They caught up on their lives and told stories about their journeys. Missy had been involved in almost all of Naolin's adventures, but she enjoyed hearing him tell about them. She still felt a little odd being around so much while the brothers were getting reacquainted, but they were both adamant that she wasn't intruding.

The first time Missy and Naolin were alone, he brought up the reason they had been in Geffen in the first place. "I am really sorry I pulled you away from your interviews," he told her.

"Don't worry about it," she replied with a wave of her hand. "I cancelled the rest of them anyway. I've already made my choice."

Naolin had sat still, to let his body recuperate, as long as he could manage. But of course, that emperium was burning a large hole in his pocket, and he wanted to form the guild as soon as possible. He and Missy said goodbye to Drear, who chose to stay in Geffen to train in the tower, and headed to Morroc, where the guild registrar was located. Despite the long distance, they started out walking, feeling like they'd been cooped up in town for far too long. When they reached Prontera, however, Naolin was too excited to spend the rest of the day walking. They went straight to "warp alley" and purchased an instant trip to the desert city.

Missy waited outside of the building while Naolin registered his long-awaited guild. She had little desire to hold a leadership position, but he had insisted that she would hold as much power in his guild as he did. She felt that was a bit of an exaggeration, but she also knew that she would help him in whatever way he asked. For now, while she waited, her contribution was to look over the various guild notices on the wall outside the registrar, scanning for anything important, and also perusing the various notices left by people looking for a guild. One piece of paper caught her eye, and not just because it was the largest there.

After a half an hour, Naolin finally returned, grinning widely and carrying a large, leather-bound book. Despite her aversion to the role he wanted her to play, Missy was looking forward to learning everything that book had to offer. He walked up to her, opened it to a smooth, ivory-colored page, at the top of which was written, in a beautiful gold script, the words "Guild Members." He pointed to the first line, under his name and the title "Guild Master."

"I'd like to officially invite you to be the first member of _Collegato­­­­­­­­­­­­_." He handed her a pen, and she signed eagerly. It was hard not to get caught up in such a historic moment. Naolin noticed the look on her face, and could tell that it was about more than this though. "What?" he questioned.

"Come here," she replied, walking back to the wall of papers and gesturing for him to follow. She pointed at the notice that she'd been so interested in before.

"Wow," he marveled, and she nodded in agreement, grinning more because of what she knew it meant to him than because of what it meant to her. He looked at her, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "Missy, we have a lot of work to do."

**THE END**


End file.
